Dedicated 22lr Barreled Upper

[Spicerack]

Good evening,
Looking at maybe building or buying a dedicated 22LR upper. What works? Looks like there are some incompatible options so I don't want to waste funds going after parts that won't work together. Accuracy will be the driver knowing that it won't be an Annie but want to squeeze as much as I can out of it. It'll be a suppressed plinker, preferably a short Barreled 1:16 twist or so, whatever will work best for accuracy and function. Suggestions?

Semper Fidelis,
Aaron

 

[AZgeek]

Following. Also interested in this subject.

 

[natdscott]

Your only best option is to call John Scandale at Keystone Accuracy. He is THE guy for this. Look up his page on it, and prepare to be pleased.

I did a few special things with my upper, including a Shilen SM Ratchet blank, but dammit did John assemble a shooter.

I admit, it will not (or I cannot shoot it) even with my Anschutz, but I'll tell you what: it would make a damn fool of a lot of 40X class rifles.

...and yet can be run blowback full auto.

I run mine single shot only, but it feeds just fine.

 

[natdscott]

Since the internet is so full of truths, I dug through the stack and found a few from last summer when I was training up for the Atterbury Nat'l:

Apologies, this target got wet as I was throwing gear in the car instead...

And these next two are from a pretty good training day:

All of these were shot with SK Rifle Match, sling prone with A2 irons. Sorry for the fliers, but these targets should be somewhat indicative of what Scandale's uppers COULD do with Eley Match or something, and a scope and sandbags.

Who knows...might just BE Anschutz accurate.

https://www.keystoneaccuracy.com/match-grade-uppers.html


-Nate

 

[atomic41]

I've had good luck with CMMG uppers, they are great shooters.

 

[AZgeek]

The Bobsled mag looks like a really interesting option. Thanks for sharing Nate.

 

[padom]

I also have a 22lr upper from John @ Keystone. BCM MOD4 upper receiver, 12.5" SBR, 15rd, 25rd metal feed lips mags and drum from Black Dog. Runs great 100% reliable and its VERY accurate.

I had John mill my BCM upper and install the side charger. I then had it cerakoted graphite black. Charging handle still works with side charger so you can use either which is great. Also bolt holds open on last round.

I tested a bunch of ammo in mine and it runs them all, even cheap Thunderbolts and loves CCI SV.

BCM MOD4 Upper milled for side charger
12.5" GM 22lr custom barrel 1/2-28
Daniel Defense 10" MFR Handguared MLOK
CMMG SS BCG
Magpul CTR
Aero Gen2 Lower
ERGO Grip
Geissele SD3G Trigger
BAD Ambi Safety



Heres a video I took at John's shop shooting his 22lr AR side charger.

 

[Spicerack]

Good morning and thanks all for the replies! Looks like I will give Keystone a call and see what happens there for pricing. I may have to save up some 'allowance' to get what I want since I know accuracy and reliability come with a price. This upper will have to go on a SBR'd lower that I swap uppers on regularly so I have that going for me.

Padom: that is exactly what I am going for!

 

[45cal4life]

Tactical Solutions, Kestrel upper. Polished the bolt carrier or whatever the bolt slides on is called and cut a few coils off of the recoil spring. 100% reliable with CCI SV and black dog machine magazines

 

[Spicerack]

Now I want to build one ?

Right!? Why is this not a bigger market?

 

[lte82]

10 shots prone / sling @ 50 yards with a keystone 22 lr upper I shot last week after mounting a scope. The flier was shot one... It's definitely capable of cleaning the a23, but I wouldn't say it's going to compete with the high end bolt guns. Still it's a great rifle for what it is.

 

[natdscott]

10 shots prone / sling @ 50 yards with a keystone 22 lr upper I shot last week after mounting a scope. The flier was shot one... It's definitely capable of cleaning the a23, but I wouldn't say it's going to compete with the high end bolt guns. Still it's a great rifle for what it is.

What ammo did you use? My upper exhibits almost no consistent vertical dispersion at 50m, and I honestly think it could clean the Metrics with Eley Match. (though I surely cannot)

I guess I should mention that I also sent a different reamer for John to use, had it counter-bore crowned at a different (longer) length than standard 20" Service Rifle, and the Shilen Select Match barrel was of a factory-turned contour that required very little turning by John to bring it to AR dimensions.

I don't think Scandale necessarily agreed that I needed to do any of that, but for a custom CNC setup fee (I send a drawing of what I needed), he did it like I asked. Who knows if it mattered, since it shoots dead-even with the Kimber 82 I had; that does say something.

The thing I'd like to test would be to A4-and-scope it and maybe put a tuner on it, just to see what his work could really do. I will one of these days, just to prove a point.

-Nate

 

[SLG]

On the less expensive side, my two tacsol uppers shoot great. I'm in the process of swapping optics on the more accurate one, so I can't run out right now, but I'm happy to shoot some groups with FGMM if it would help. Most of my shooting with it has been at 25 yards, where it is a fairly tight one holer. It has never been as accurate as my CZ 452, which will hold .35 or so at 50, but the Tacsol wasn't too far off last I checked. Memory being what it is and all though, I need to go shoot it some more.

 

[padom]

Had my Keystone 12.5" 22lr AR out in the backyard today to zero my new Vortex Crossifre red dot and test the Black Dog 50rd drum. All shooting today was done with Remington 22 Thunderbolts. Yes, POS Thunderbolts. Not a single jam, failure, etc. Ran like a swiss watch. Shot at 25yd standing.

First 5 shots are the low ones adjusting my zero on the new red dot. Than 15shots in the center. Not bad for standing, Thunderbolts with a red dot. I fucking LOVE this thing. All my friends LOVE this thing. Everyone should have one. Now if I can just get my Rugged Oculus 22 can out of jail to complete this thing will be icing on the cake.

 

[natdscott]

Had my Keystone 12.5" 22lr AR out in the backyard today...

... I fucking LOVE this thing.

You state things with a rare elegance that I failed to achieve.

 

[padom]

Lol

 

[lte82]

What ammo did you use? My upper exhibits almost no consistent vertical dispersion at 50m, and I honestly think it could clean the Metrics with Eley Match. (though I surely cannot)

I guess I should mention that I also sent a different reamer for John to use, had it counter-bore crowned at a different (longer) length than standard 20" Service Rifle, and the Shilen Select Match barrel was of a factory-turned contour that required very little turning by John to bring it to AR dimensions.

I don't think Scandale necessarily agreed that I needed to do any of that, but for a custom CNC setup fee (I send a drawing of what I needed), he did it like I asked. Who knows if it mattered, since it shoots dead-even with the Kimber 82 I had; that does say something.

The thing I'd like to test would be to A4-and-scope it and maybe put a tuner on it, just to see what his work could really do. I will one of these days, just to prove a point.

-Nate

That target I posted should be rotated clockwise, so pretty much all horizontal dispersion from the wind. The ammo was Lapua center x.

 

[TitaniumBlue]

You could also try one of the JP uppers. I've had mine for a few years now and the thing is amazing. Plus it works with their side charging uppers if you ever decide to get one.

 

[Spicerack]

Padom, is your barrel a Keystone or did you options for a Kroger, Lilja, etc? I love what you got and will start saving and collecting parts for something along the lines of yours.

 

[padom]

Padom, is your barrel a Keystone or did you options for a Kroger, Lilja, etc? I love what you got and will start saving and collecting parts for something along the lines of yours.

It is Keystones Green Mountain 22 barrel that he does in any length and contour you want. They straight up shoot. He will do any barrel blank you want, but the Green Mountain barrels flat out shoot. I also didnt build mine for long range precision but I was shooting Norma Match 22LR the other day at 300yds on steel no problem and was shooting tiny little holes with various match 22LR ammo from a bench with bipod, rear bag and Athlon optic.

 

[padom]

For those of you looking to build one of these, JSE has MEGA Billet side charging uppers on sale right now. All you need is the barrel from Keystone and his BCG kit. For those of you that dont know, John mills the barrel extension right into the barrel blank, along with the chamber, feed ramp, etc. There is no barrel extension screwed on and he doesnt use CMMG's kit. He only uses their BCG which mates up to his milled barrel extension.

http://www.jsesurplus.com/AR-15SBUBilletUpperwithSideChargingHandleSlotM0300JSEEXCLUSIVE.aspx

 

[Spicerack]

Thanks Padom! I'm in and going to start ordering this weekend.

 

[Spicerack]

Padom, another question: did you have to have any extra work done on the carrier for the side charger handle?

 

[padom]

Yes Keystone drilled, tapped, threaded and installed the side charger handle in the bcg. He also drills, taps and threads and hole on the back left side to keep the bcg from flying out the back of the upper cause there is no buffer/spring in a 22lr.

You want to buy the barrel, bcg and handle fron Keystone..send them your upper and handguard if you have it and they will assemble it all for you

 

[MarkCO]

Right!? Why is this not a bigger market?

Mostly because consumers are fickle and cheap. We (Carbon Arms) built match grade 22 uppers for several years. I spent a lot of time with a variety of parts to come up with an upper that was light, accurate and reliable. I'd say about 80% of them have been pure joy for their owners. 1 MOA out to 100 yards and equally at home on the Steel Challenge or Rimfire Challenge stages. Some folks wanted to run cheap ammo, mags or triggers that were incompatible. Patrick Kelley loves his and shoots it a lot. I have 2, one with over 100K through it. But I had customers that tried to ream out the match chamber so they could run crap ammo, ones that refused to even try a Black Dog magazine and some that ran so much lube they were like mud in the receiver. The time and effort I put into building them was extensive and they all had several types of ammo and mags tested in them before they shipped. Beyer barrels now catalogs the barrels I used, so you could still copy what I used to build if anyone wanted to.